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Chapter Text

"So, out of curiosity... of the two of you, who is stronger?"

Seraphina stared at the older man before giggling a little bit. "That's a good one."

"What do you mean 'that's a good one'? John told me you were a god-tier. I assume his ability level is higher than yours?" William asked, confused at Seraphina's reaction.

"Wait what? John's a cripple... right?" Seraphina was becoming increasingly confused herself.

Taken aback, William exclaimed, "A cripple? He's a god-tier, just like you! Has he been hiding his powers from you?"

Seraphina was stunned. He's not a cripple? Why did he tell me he was a cripple? Why didn't he use his ability? What even is his ability? What else has he lied to me about?

Before the two of them can say anything else, John walked in through the door. "Hey Sera, I'm back... Wait, what the f-?"

"John! Welcome home!" William said, a hint of irritation in his voice. John looked past William only to see Seraphina give him the mother-of-all death glares. What did Dad tell her? Why is she glaring at me?

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

"What, I can't visit my own son?"

"You could've at least told me ahead of time!"

"Huh? How? You hung up on me last week, and ignored all my calls afterwards."

As the two bickered, Seraphina continued to think over the whole situation. John, her best friend of nearly two years, lied about his ability. He was a god-tier, not a cripple. She needed to know the truth.

"John."

"Yeah?" John said, turning towards her.

"When were you going to tell me you were a god-tier?"

John paled and his eyes widened in horror. He quickly looked back at William, who put his hands up. "How was I supposed to know that you were lying about your ability? As a matter of fact, why are you hiding your ability?"

John mentally cursed at himself. He turned back to Seraphina, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"I... I didn't want anyone, especially you, to know about my ability." John muttered, unable to keep eye contact with Seraphina.

"And why is that? Do you not trust me? Was our friendship built on a lie?" Seraphina pressed.

John looked at her with a panicked "NO! It's not that, I promise! It's just..." He turned to his father, who was watching him and Seraphina.

"Hey Dad, I need your help in explaining this with me. I..." John sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "I can't explain everything about my past alone."

"...And that's why I am pretending to be a cripple." John finished. He was unable to look anyone in the eye, and he feared Seraphina's reaction. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore..." He tried to keep himself from breaking down in front of Seraphina and his father. She's going to leave me, and I'll be alone again...

William looked over at Seraphina, who was crying. He knew the girl was taking this hard. Before he could pat her on the back or get up and reassure John, she jumped up from the couch and tackle-hugged John. John tensed for a moment in surprise, before returning the hug.

"I never knew how rough your past was, no wonder you didn't want to tell me," She tearfully said, tightening her arms around John. "But John, I won't leave you. You're my best friend, I just wish you've told me this sooner."

John sighed. "I didn't want you to know about this side of me, the fact that I've done so many horrible things..."

"John, what you did was wrong, but who would expect you to be of sound mind, especially when you went through so much bullying and harassment for being a late-bloomer?" Seraphina pulled back, looking John straight in the eyes. "Also, what Keon did to you was terrible. You needed to understand your actions, but you didn't need to be mentally tortured. You shouldn't be afraid of yourself or your power."

William watched as Seraphina reassured John, smiling as relief washed over John's face. She is such a great friend to John. I hope she can teach him to forgive himself.

"From now on, no more secrets. You tell me everything." Seraphina demanded.

John smiled brightly, feeling as though a large weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. "No more secrets."

As William slept, Seraphina asked John questions about his ability. She was surprised when she learned he could manipulate his own aura in order to copy and amplify abilities. She was especially amused to learn that he was already more powerful than Arlo was two years ago.

"You were already at a 7.0 ability level as a freshman?" She exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, once my ability developed I jumped up to god-tier really quickly," John replied.

"So you were already more powerful than Arlo is now? I would love to see you beat his ass." Seraphina giggled, imagining Arlo's face when John dethroned him.

John chuckled, then shrugged. "Well, I don't plan on becoming King anytime soon, since... you know."

"I know, but it would still be hilarious to see you beat up Arlo."

William woke up to see Seraphina and John talking and joking around with each other. He smiled, happy that John was able to confide in Seraphina. Although he knew her and John were just friends, he was already wondering what abilities their children would have. She would make a great daughter-in-law, he thought.

"You kids are still up?" William said, drawing the attention of the two god-tiers. "How about we play some cards? Do you have your Poker set, John?"

Chapter Text

“Hey Sera, I’m home!” John announced as he walked through the door. Sera looked up from her position on the couch towards him with a smile. 

“Welcome back.” She took note of the bruise on John’s cheek. “Who did you fight this time?”

“A mid-tier I was able to defeat easily. I think his name was Hower,” John dismissively said as he took off his backpack and set it on the floor. He sat down next to Seraphina, who immediately turned and put her legs in his lap.

Seraphina snorted. “I can only imagine how they would react if they ever found out your ability.”

John stiffened. “Ugh, I don’t even want to know. Elaine already avoids me like the plague-”

“Wait, what? Why is Elaine avoiding you?”

John cursed under his breath. “Uh… Well, you know how I got jumped by Arlo, Ventus, and Melli right?”

“Yeah.” As soon as she returned to school, Seraphina was going to give Arlo a piece of her mind. I’m so going to beat his ass when I return.

“I’m assuming Elaine was healing their wounds prior to you calling her to heal me. She figured out I had fought them because of the wounds I had.”

“Oh… Is that why she left so quickly?”

“Well…” John ran a hand through his hair, nervous about how Seraphina would react. “I told her to not tell anyone about what happened. Or rather, I threatened her into not telling anyone.”

“Dang, are you that scary?”

John shrugged. “I guess so…”

The two god-tiers sat in silence for a little bit. “Does anyone else at school know about your ability? Besides Arlo, Elaine, Ventus, and Melli?”

“Isen most certainly knows. The idiot tried to pry into my past, probably at Arlo’s request. Lately he has been more cautious towards me and has interfered multiple times when I had to deal with bullies. I’m pretty sure he accessed my records, because there’s no other reason as to why he’s suddenly acting all buddy-buddy towards me,” John explained, irritated. He leaned his head back against the couch and sighed. “Why couldn’t Arlo just leave me alone? Why did he have to try to drag me back into the hierarchy?”

“Hey, don’t worry about him. He hasn’t done anything else since you beat him, right? He may be an asshole, but he’s not stupid. I think he’ll just leave you alone from now on.” 

“It still doesn’t change the fact that several people now know that I’m not a cripple. They may be quiet for now, but sooner or later, I might have to deal with the whole school knowing about me,” John looked frightened. “What if this ends up being like New Bostin again? What if I lose control? What if-”

Noticing John was seconds away from a panic attack, she hopped up from the couch and put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

“John, calm down,” Seraphina said sternly. “You won’t lose control, I’ll make sure of that. Now that I know about your ability and your past, I can support you. Also, you’re not the guy you were two years ago. New Bostin won’t happen again, I promise.”

John relaxed. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong. Just understand that I will always be here for you.”

“Thank you.” John said, smiling at Seraphina.

Chapter Text

 "Hey, have you heard about Zeke? Apparently he was found unconscious and brutally beaten."

"Yeah, apparently whoever attacked him did so much damage he was sent to the hospital!"

Although Seraphina couldn't care less about what happened to Zeke, she was interested in who attacked him. There were few people able to beat Zeke, and she couldn't think of anyone who would attack Zeke and beat him so brutally that he had to be hospitalized.

Except for one person. When she questioned John about Zeke later, she was right. "I only wish I had beat him up more," John said, and for a moment Seraphina glimpsed the side of he didn't want her to see. Since her ability loss was exposed, she was a prime target for vengeful students who wanted a chance to beat up the former Ace. Due to this, she noticed John was becoming more openly violent and prone to lashing out. She knew John wanted to keep his ability a secret due to his personal issues, but she could tell it was getting harder for him to restrain himself.

"John." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Did you reveal your ability to him? If you don't feel comfortable revealing your ability, then don't do it. I don't want you to suffer in order to protect me."

"I hid my identity while I was fighting Zeke." John said, before snorting. "I used the lunch bag he threw away to cover my face."

Seraphina stared at John, before busting out into laughter. "That sounds like the perfect disguise. No one would ever suspect you."

John pretended to be offended, before succumbing to laughter himself. "Hey, at least it worked! Don't underestimate my ingenuity!"

A couple of days later, Seraphina heard about a mid-tier named Juni being chased and brutally beaten by an anonymous student.

"She was found lying in the middle of the hallway yesterday! She was beaten so badly that she had to be hospitalized!"

"I remember seeing her in the cafeteria. She was freaking out over someone chasing her."

"Who would target her like this? Could it possibly be the same student who beat Zeke?" Seraphina already had an idea about who the culprit was. He was standing right next to her, his face expressionless.

"Wait, what does she look like again?"

"She's a green-haired mid-tier. She's on the press team and wears her hair in buns."

Yep, it was definitely John. Seraphina remembered telling him what Juni looked like. Juni was the girl who exposed her ability loss to the press.

"A green-haired girl with buns on her head..."

Later, as the two sat on the roof, Seraphina asked John about Juni. "Yeah, that was also me." he confessed. Seraphina noted how nonchalant he sounded. It was as if hurting Juni meant nothing to him.

"John, I appreciate you going after people who hurt me, but you don't have to be so brutal. You don't have to do this."

John looked at Seraphina in shock. "Sera. You've stuck by me even after you learned about my ability. You don't think I'm a monster. With all of the crap I've hidden from you, you're still here. Even with all of my mental issues, you're still comfortable around me. The least I can do is to avenge you." A thoughtful look appeared on his face. "You know, I've been thinking. I can't keep pretending to be a cripple and protect you at the same time. I need to put aside my fear and reveal myself."

Seraphina was taken aback. John was willing to expose himself as a god-tier in order to protect her. "John, I don't want you to be scared of using your ability, but I don't want you to suffer some kind of panic attack when you do reveal yourself. We both know how brutal the pressure of being a high-tier can be. When I was Ace I learned to tune it out, but I don't want you to have to deal with that pressure, especially since you've gone through it before."

John smiled at Seraphina. "It'll be worth doing so in order to keep you safe."

Before Seraphina can reply, the door to the roof slammed open. Abel glared at them with glowing eyes, irritated that the two cripples were still on the roof. "I thought I told you two that cripples are not allowed on the roof! Now get out before I make you leave!"

John gritted his teeth, irritated. "Don't worry Sera, I'll deal with him." He growled, standing up.

"What are you going to do, fight me? You're a pitiful cripple, you can't do anything to me!"

John smirked, his eyes glowing a bright gold. "Who said I was a cripple?"

The elite-tier's eyes widened, but before he can say anything, John rushed towards him, readying a punch. Abel managed to dodge him, but within a flash a large explosion sent Abel flying. Seraphina watched as the guy fell back to the ground, groaning in pain. John grabbed him by his collar, and pulled the injured boy up to face him.

"Leave. If you tell anyone about what just happened I will beat you even worse than I did Zeke and Juni. Also, Sera gets to be up here even if I'm not present, understand?" Abel frantically nodded, and ran/limped off the roof as soon as John released him. John turned to face a surprised Seraphina. "You're right. But eventually I will be exposed. I can't keep this a secret from everybody. I won't reveal myself just yet, but at least I can keep you from being kicked off the roof."

Chapter Text

Seraphina watched in a daze as the mid-tiers bickered about what to do with her. She had been stuck here since yesterday, beaten mercilessly by vengeful students who wanted to "put the former Ace in her place." She held back a sob as her wounds throbbed in agony. She hoped that someone, anyone , would save her from this pain. 

John… Would he even know where to find me? Does he even know I'm missing? Would he blow his cover to find me? A tear slipped from Seraphina's eyes. She knew that John was trying his best to protect her while remaining a cripple, but even she knew that with so many students targeting her, it was getting more difficult for John to hide his ability. Multiple times she has seen his eyes glow momentarily before he regained control of himself. Now that she was powerless, she had become such a burden to protect. She hated it. She had no more worth, no more influence. She was useless.

Seraphina heard a door slam open, then footsteps. The mid-tiers paused in their arguing to see who arrived, and were shocked to see John, his eyes glowing a bright gold. 

He came for me. Seraphina smiled at John. "About time."

The mid-tiers were in shock. The cripple has powers? John moved past them to Seraphina, untying her from the pole and healing her injuries.

"What did they do to you?" John asked, rage building in his face as he looked over her numerous injuries. It unnerved Seraphina, she had never seen him so angry before. 

"HEY! YOU BETTER GET AWAY FROM HER OR ELSE I'LL PUT YOU DOWN TOO!" Illena yelled, having recovered from her shock. She activated her ability, her eyes glowing a bright blue.

John turned around and got up, his fists clenched. Seraphina had a feeling that things were not going to end well for Illena and the others. 

"Try me, you piece of trash." John growled.

Illena ran towards him, enraged. John dodged the attack and kicked the brunette so hard she flew into the wall. Blood dripped from her lips and head as she slumped over, unconscious. John walked towards the brunette and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, readying a punch.

"HEY! GET AWAY FROM HER!" Wenqi yelled, activating her ability and sprinting towards John. The god-tier dropped Illena, sidestepped Wenqi, and proceeded to grab her face and slammed her head onto the floor, knocking her out immediately.

Seraphina watched in surprise as John proceeded to advance towards the three remaining mid-tiers. It was as if he was possessed. She almost wanted to tell John to stop, but she couldn't form any words.

"HOLY SH*T! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" The kids ran, only for John to blow up the only exit. They turned around in fear, realizing the only way they were going to be able to escape was to fight John.

"We have to fight back! There are three of us and one of him! I'll shoot, you two cover me!" Krolik said, activating his ability. Misa and Crail activated their abilities as well. 

"O-okay! Here goes!" Krolik shot a laser at John, who blocked it with his arm. His arm quickly healed over. John quickly advanced towards Krolik, sending him flying into the wall with a powerful punch to the mid-tier's gut. The kid slammed into the wall and crashed to the floor below.

John turned to Misa, who had a hand in front of her. "G-Get away from me! Don't come any closer!" She threatened, shaking in fear.

John merely grabbed the girl's arm and jerked it to the side, easily avoiding her Repulsion ability. He punched the girl in the face and she fell to the ground, coughing up blood. The god-tier then opened his palm and aimed it towards her, sending an explosive projectile towards her vulnerable body. After finishing off Misa, John made his way towards Crail, who fell on his knees, trembling with fear. "P-Please! I'm sorry for hurting Seraphina! We never meant for it to go this far! I regret all of it!" Crail desperately apologized, hoping to avoid John's wrath. "If there is any way I can make this up to you or prove myself to-"

John cut Crail off with a knee to his jaw and a punch to his face. The god-tier glared at the battered boy who was coughing up blood. "You wouldn't have dragged Sera out here if you were sorry. Pathetic ." Before Crail could respond, John kicked him into the wall.

Seraphina surveyed the carnage. This is what John wanted to hide from me. She had seen glimpses of the darkness that John always tried to keep from her, but seeing him brutally beat five mid-tiers fully exposed the side he wanted to hide from her. Although a part of her screamed “danger”, it was immediately silenced as he turned towards her, his face softening into a concerned expression. 

John would never hurt me. 

John returned to her side, healing the rest of her injuries. A wave of exhaustion rolled over her and she leaned into John's chest. 

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." John whispered, hugging her. 

"I don't care. You still came for me. Thank you." Seraphina replied, inhaling the familiar scent of her best friend.

"Of course. I'll always come for you, I promise." John picked up Seraphina bridal-style and carried her out of the house and back to the school. Feeling safe and warm in his arms, the former Ace drifted off into oblivion.

Chapter Text

"So you beat up Isen, Tanner, Rouker, and Abel in order to get their abilities?" Seraphina asked John after she woke up. They were in the infirmary, and although her injuries have been healed thanks to John, Doctor Darren decided to keep her for observation. Arlo, Elaine, Remi, and Blyke had came by to visit her and Isen, who was recovering from his injuries after his fight with John.

"Yeah. I wore a mask, and no, it's not that lunch bag," John said as Seraphina snickered. "I only took off my mask when I reached you because I knew they would be suspended and I wanted to make sure you knew that I wasn't a stranger who was going to hurt you. I didn't want you to be scared of me."

"Either way I would've figured out it was you, because of the color of your eyes when they are glowing." Seraphina pointed out. "But did you really have to attack Isen?"

"Yes. That prick pried into my past and broke my wrist," John said, loud enough for Isen to hear him from the other side of the curtain. "He should have known that was coming." Seraphina could have sworn she heard Isen whimper.

John looked at the clock. "Shoot, I can't miss the next class. The teacher said she'll fail me if I miss anymore classes without an excuse. Will you be okay here?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I'll see you later."

John smiled and waved at Sera as he exited the infirmary.

Seraphina got up from the bed and walked around the curtain to Isen's side. He was curled into a ball, hiding his face underneath the blanket. She found it strangely amusing to see the normally proud elite-tier cowering in fear. She almost wanted to send a picture of him to Remi and Blyke, but that would mean having to explain to them why he looks so terrified, and it would be cruel to capitalize on Isen's obvious fear of John.

"Is that what happened, Isen?" She asked, crossing her arms. Isen peeked up from under the covers.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Why?"

"I-I was forced to pry into John's past by Arlo."

"And why would Arlo do such a thing?"

"Because John wasn't acting like an actual low-tier. I regretted looking into his past as soon as I saw his New Bostin High School transcript. I know you don't have your ability right now, but when it comes back please don't kill me," Isen pleaded.

Seraphina sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you. I think John already taught you that lesson."

Isen relaxed a little at her words. Then he realized, when did she find out about John? Did John tell her? "Hey Seraphina, how did you know about John's ability? He doesn't seem like the person who would tell anyone, and from what I remember he never told you." Isen asked curiously, lowering the blanket.

The former Ace snorted. "John actually didn't tell me by choice. His father unintentionally exposed him. He forgot to inform his father about him lying to me."

"Are you serious? He was just asking for you to find out about his ability if he didn't make sure all of the loose ends were tied up." Isen joked, imagining John's reaction to his father ratting him out to Seraphina.

"Yeah, he was." Seraphina turned to look at the clock. About two hours before school ends. She didn't want to stay cooped up in here. She wanted to go to the roof and wait for John's classes to be over. John had healed all of her injuries before they reached the infirmary, so technically she was okay to leave. "Well, I might as well head out too. I hope you get better soon."

Seraphina was waiting for John on the roof when he walked through the door, looking both angry and devious.

"What is that look on your face for now?" She asked, slightly worried about his answer.

"Well, I've decided to destroy this hierarchy." John replied.

Seraphina was taken aback by his answer. "Wait, what? Why?"

John explained the argument between him and Arlo. "He told me to 'take my place in the hierarchy,'" he said, mocking the blonde's words. "I will, but at the cost of his stupid hierarchy."

"What are you planning?"

John explained his plan to Seraphina. "I'm going to make my way up to Arlo through everyone above Isen."

"But why not just go for Arlo directly? Your problem is with him, right?"

John sighed. "I'm not just planning to take down Arlo. I'm going to make a mockery out of this whole system. Besides you, these high-tiers step on the backs of others in order to ensure they stay on top. I'm just going to give them a taste of their own medicine."

Although Seraphina couldn't care less about what happened to Arlo or the hierarchy, she was concerned about everyone John would be fighting, especially Remi. She knew how ruthless John was, and she was fearful that he would seriously injure them. "John, please don't go overboard," she pleaded. "I understand how you feel about everything, but please don't hurt them like you did with those mid-tiers. They don't deserve to be beaten like that."

"I won't do that to them, I promise." John looked away from her, guilt apparent on his face. "I... lost control of myself when I saw you bloodied and beaten. I wanted to exact revenge on them for hurting you. I'm sorry you had to see that side of me. I never wanted you to see it." John said, looking away from Seraphina, his bangs covering his eyes.

Seraphina hated how despondent John looked. He was normally so confident and full of bravado, that she sometimes has to be reminded that he has his vulnerabilities. The former Ace hugged John tightly. "John, you're not a bad person. You just need help. I mean actual help, not those tortuous readjustment classes you had to take. You have control over yourself, you just have to believe it," Seraphina then snorted. "As a matter-of-fact, your self-control is legendary."

"What? What do you mean 'legendary'?" John asked, not believing her. He pulled away from Seraphina to look her in the eyes.

"Well, even while you were bullied almost daily, you acted as a cripple for almost two years. If you didn't have self-control you would have snapped a long time ago. Hell, I know I would have if I were in your place."

"But what about those mid-tiers? What about Isen, Zeke and Juni? What about everyone else I had hurt?"

"You only attacked them because of me. Also, last time I checked you haven't killed anyone, so I think you're good."

"Yeah... you're probably right." John hugged Seraphina tightly, mentally thanking whatever deity or deities blessed him with such a great friend. "What would I do without you, Sera?"

Chapter Text

"I wonder who Joker is. I'm afraid he might start hurting random students. Why haven't the Royals done anything about him? Do they already know who Joker is? If so, why haven't they exposed his identity?" Evie asked Seraphina as they walked through the hallway.

Seraphina wanted to tell Evie to not worry about Joker. John had told her that he would not beat up anyone else unless they harm her, but she knew she had to keep his identity a secret until he reveals it himself.

"I don't think he'll just hurt anyone, Evie." Seraphina had to carefully choose her words to avoid exposing John. "He's just ascending the hierarchical ladder; it means nothing to us."

Evie fixed Seraphina with a questioning look. "And how do you know that?"

Before Seraphina could respond, she heard commotion down the hallway. She and Evie rounded the corner to see Roland being beaten by a mid-tier.

"You filthy idiot! How dare you run into me?" The girl shrieked. Roland cowered in fear, trembling.

"I-I'm sorry Clio, I d-didn't mean to!"

"Save your excuses!" Clio was about to punch Roland when Evie, who was inspired by Seraphina to fight back, tackled her to the ground.

"What the-? GET OFF ME!" The blue-haired girl struck Evie in the face, stunning her.

"HEY!" Seraphina yelled, catching the attention of Clio before she continued hurting Evie.

"Oh hello Seraphina~" The girl leered. "How's the cripple life treating you? You want a part of this too, huh?" She grabbed Seraphina by her collar.

Seraphina rolled her eyes. "Just because I'm powerless, doesn't mean I can't defeat a lowly mid-tier like you." She slammed her head into Clio's chin, before following up with an elbow strike and a kick to the mid-tier's side.

Clio fell to the ground, yelping in pain. Seraphina stood above her. 

"Get lost."

"W-What?!" The blue-haired exclaimed in surprise. Seraphina walked over to Evie and helped her up. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Ugh... why am I so dizzy?" Evie groaned, slowly sitting up. She then saw Clio running towards Seraphina. "SERAPHINA, WATCH OUT!"

Unfortunately for the former Ace, the warning was too late. Clio punched her in the face, sending Seraphina to the ground in a daze.

That's strange, she doesn't even hit that hard. But for some reason, I'm seeing double! Her punches are making me dizzy!

Clio was about to punch her again when all of a sudden she was punched in the face by another student. The hit sent her to the floor, groaning in pain. Seraphina's vision cleared and she saw John standing in front of her, looking at her in concern. "Sera, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She accepted John's hand and stood up. "Nice timing."

"Oh great, the other cripple is here," Clio stood up, irritated. "Don't worry, I'll put you down too!"

Before John and Seraphina could do anything, Evie jumped up and activated her ability. Her hands suddenly became illuminated. She put them over Clio's eyes, blinding the mid-tier. "We told you to leave us alone!" She yelled.

"AUGH! Let go!" Clio shoved Evie to the ground, blinking rapidly to regain her vision. Seraphina took the chance to land a punch on the disoriented girl, before John followed up by grabbing her face and clocking her with his knee.

Sera and John looked down at the unconscious girl, before turning to grin at each other.

"That was AMAZING!" Evie exclaimed, standing up. "I can't believe we managed to fight her off!" She then turned to John and Seraphina. "You guys are awesome! You both are very skilled fighters! Oh, let me introduce you guys to Roland, he's in the same year as us!" Evie said, gesturing to Roland, who waved at the two.

John smiled at Evie's enthusiasm. "I'm guessing you're Evie, right? Sera told me about you. Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. How about you, Roland?"

"I'm fine. Thank you both for helping me. And Evie, that was so brave of you for trying to help me!" Evie flushed softly. John and Seraphina gave each other knowing looks.

"Um... you two are really amazing! Where did you learn to fight so well? You didn't even use an ability to defend yourself! If only Evie and I could do the same!" Roland questioned Seraphina.

"Anyone can do it, it's not that difficult. I learned from John," Seraphina gestured to John.

John shrugged. "I learned from my father. Would you like Sera and I to teach you guys?"

Evie and Roland looked at each other in surprise, before quickly accepting the offer. "Yes, that'll be awesome!"

"We can meet on the roof after school if that's okay with you guys," Seraphina offered. "It's the best place to practice."

"Uh, aren't low-tiers not allowed on the roof?" Roland asked. "If we are caught on the roof, we'll surely be kicked off!"

John and Seraphina looked at each other. Seraphina knew she couldn't reveal the real reason as to why they are still allowed on the roof, but what else could they say? 

"Well, since Sera is still friends with a lot of the high-tiers, she was able to keep her roof privileges," John lied. Seraphina had to admit, John was pretty good at coming up with lies on the spot.

"Oh, that's cool! Then we'll practice there!" Evie said, excited. "But first, we should get Clio to the infirmary." Evie looked down at the aforementioned mid-tier, who was still unconscious.

"I'll get her," John picked up the mid-tier and they headed towards the infirmary.

After dropping off Clio and getting their bruises healed, Roland and Evie decided to head to class. "Aren't you two coming with?" Evie asked.

"We'll be there in a little bit, I need to talk to Sera real quick." John replied. After the low-tiers left, he turned to Seraphina. "You know how I was talking about revealing myself?"

"Yeah, what are your plans concerning that?"

"When I get up to Arlo, I'll expose myself then. I want to keep the whole school guessing. I swear, I don't know how no one has figured out it is me, I mean my aura is black and I'm the only one in the school with black hair," John scoffed and Seraphina snorted.

"Okay. But I need you to promise me again you won't go overboard on them. I don't think Headmaster Vaughn would like you sending everyone to the hospital," Seraphina joked lightly.

John tensed before chuckling a little bit. "The last thing I want to do is to get on his bad side."

Seraphina was walking to class when she found herself in front of Arlo. Why is he here? Is this about John?

"Seraphina. Do you have a minute?"

"No." Seraphina immediately replied, turning around to walk away from the blonde. She did not want to be a part of his games again, nor did she want to listen to whatever he wanted to say.

Arlo reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaving, "Hey, wait! This is important!"

Seraphina turned around, already expecting what he wanted to say. "I already told you a long time ago, I don't want anything to do with you or the Royals. If this is about John being Joker, I don't care."

"John is going to run the school into the ground, Seraphina. I need you to talk him down, he only listens to you." Arlo pleaded.

Anger rose up in Seraphina. She remembered John telling her about all of the crap Arlo put him through. She remembered how betrayed he looked as he recounted trying to befriend Arlo, only to be ambushed and forced into revealing his ability. She recalled how he told Elaine to tell the headmaster about UnOrdinary so he can pry into John's past while she was suspended. Even after she returned and he was defeated Arlo kept trying to drag John back into the hierarchy, completely ignoring his protests and refusing to look into why John ejected himself from the hierarchy. Arlo wanted all of this to happen. He wanted John to take his place, right? That's what John is doing.

Seraphina snorted. "You tell him to 'take his place in the hierarchy', and now that he's climbing up the ranks, you try to stop him? That's interesting." She said, crossing her arms.

"He's going to overthrow the hierarchy."

"I don't care. If you wanted your precious hierarchy to be preserved, you would have left John alone in the first place. He's a late-bloomer, he views society differently. He's experienced so much crap as a low-tier, it negatively affected him as a high-tier. He knew he was unfit to lead. But now he has no choice but to dethrone you, all because you couldn't leave him alone. What goes around comes back around, Arlo." Amusement filled her as she saw guilt appear on the blonde's face as he remembered what he did to John. It finally must be sinking in for him.

"I didn't know what kept John from revealing his ability--"

"Then maybe you should've figured that out instead of trying to force him back into the hierarchy. It's common sense. If a high-tier is avoiding his 'rightful place' by purposely pretending to be a low-tier, then maybe he has a good reason as to why he's doing so. Secondly, the hierarchy only benefited me as a high-tier. Now that I'm a cripple, I see how oppressive the hierarchy is for low-tiers. I've been teased, bullied-- hell, I even got kidnapped! I only wish I had seen this sooner and used my role to help others instead of stepping on their backs."

"The hierarchy is in place to keep the school in order, Seraphina. John will cause chaos to the school if he succeeds!"

"The school has always been chaotic, Arlo. Low-tiers are beaten every day. Us high-tiers tend to ignore the chaos in order to ensure we stay on top. What John is doing doesn't create chaos; he exposes it. I'm not going to help you, you made your grave, now lie in it." Seraphina started to walk away.

"But what about Remi? If John fights her, she'll be brutalized by him! Isn't she your friend?"

Seraphina glared at him. "Of course she is my friend. I've already told him to go easier on her. Besides that, you're on your own." She then walked away, leaving Arlo behind.

Chapter Text

Seraphina smiled at a text she received from John. She had just sent out a reply when someone knocked on her bedroom door. “Come in!” She called out. Blyke and Remi entered her room, nervousness apparent on their faces. “Blyke? Remi? What’s wrong?” the former Ace asked, putting away her phone.

Remi spoke up. “I think we know who Joker is.” 

Seraphina raised an eyebrow in question. “What about him? How does his identity concern me?”

“Well... I think he’s John.” Blyke replied.

Uh oh, Seraphina thought. What should I say? I can't lie as well as John! “So…” she started slowly, “What makes you think John is Joker?”

“Well, Joker copies abilities, right? I was thinking that if Joker didn’t have any abilities copied, wouldn’t that make him powerless? And John is a cripple,” Blyke explained. “Also, you know how the color of our abilities take on the color of our hair? Joker’s abilities are black, and John is the only person in this school with black hair. Lastly, both John and Joker are trained in hand-to-hand combat.”

He’s really intuitive, Seraphina thought in concern. I know I can’t lie to them about this. I’ll have to tell them. She sighed. “You’re right. John is Joker.”

Blyke and Remi looked shocked. “You already knew?” Remi asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes. I promised him not to tell anyone, but you two already figured it out.” Seraphina then snorted. “I’m shocked Isen hasn’t told you two already.”

“WAIT WHAT?” Blyke yelled, “You’re telling me Isen knew John was a high-tier this whole time and never told us?”

“Yeah, but he didn't withhold the truth from you for no reason. Long story short, Arlo asked Isen to research John's background and found out he is a high-tier. John told him to not tell anyone, including you guys.”

“Do you know why John is doing all of this?” Remi asked.

“You can thank Arlo for that one,” Seraphina replied. “He’s the one who started all of this.”

“Wait what? What do you mean Arlo started all of this? Did he do something to John?”

Seraphina explained how Arlo tricked John into using his ability. “Arlo had me suspended to pry into John's past. He didn’t like how John wasn’t ‘acting his rank.’ Arlo pretended to befriend him to gain his trust, then lured him to the turf war area and ambushed him with Ventus and Melli to reveal his ability.”

Remi and Blyke were shocked. “Arlo started all of this because John wasn’t acting like an actual cripple?” Blyke exclaimed.

“Exactly,” Seraphina said. “He was angry that John was avoiding the hierarchy and wanted to force him back into it. However, he neglected to think about why John was hiding his powers. I can’t tell you specifically why John is pretending to be a cripple, but I can tell you he’s a late-bloomer and has had a rough past. Arlo mentally screwed up John and destroyed his ability to trust anyone else, which is why he is more hostile than normal.”

Remi looked pissed. Her eyes were glowing, and her fists were clenched. “WHAT? You’re telling me Arlo hurt John only because he didn’t fit into his stupid hierarchy?” 

“Yep. Even after he got defeated, Arlo continued to try to drag John back into the hierarchy, and called him a coward for hiding his ability amongst other things. Which is why John is currently making his way up the rankings by pretending to be Joker.”

Remi seethed in anger. She couldn’t blame John for taking action. She wanted to confront Arlo and make him explain himself. Instead, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Now’s not the time to get angry at him. I need to discuss this issue with John and see what can be done. I’ll deal with Arlo later. “I need to talk to John, maybe we can work something out so we won’t have to fight.”

“Uh… I don’t think John will listen to you.” Blyke said nervously. 

“We should still try to get through to him. If we show John we are trustworthy and understanding, then we can avoid further conflict.”

Blyke turned to Seraphina. “Do you think he’ll listen to Remi?”

Seraphina shrugged. “I don’t know. Arlo screwed him over, and he’s not going to stop because Remi asked him to. But don’t worry, I told him to go easy on her.” Blyke let out a sigh of relief, knowing his friend wouldn’t be seriously injured.

“Okay, thanks Seraphina. We are going to talk to John and see what we can do.” Remi said as she and Blyke left. 

Seraphina texted John as soon as they left the room.

On their way to John’s room, Remi called Isen and asked him to meet up with her and Blyke.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Isen said, walking up to them.

“John is Joker,” Remi bluntly stated, not wanting to beat around the bush. Isen visibly paled in fear.

“W-What? John is a cripple, t-there’s no way--” Isen tried to lie.

“Cut the s**t Isen, we just talked to Seraphina about him, and she confirmed that he is Joker,” Blyke said, crossing his arms. “She also said you were the first to learn about John’s ability. What do you know about him? I know you accessed his old school records, you literally told me you were looking into his past.”

Isen sighed in defeat and explained what he learned about John. After he finished, he told them why he avoided informing them about John. “I would’ve told you two earlier, but Arlo and John told me not to tell anyone else.”

“John was a king at his old school and was already more powerful than Arlo is presently?” Blyke exclaimed in shock. “Holy s**t!”

Remi looked thoughtful. “John avoided being part of the hierarchy because he knew he wasn’t fit to lead. He was afraid of becoming the King he was at his old school. It makes sense,” she lamented. “I wonder if his behavior has ties with him being a late-bloomer…”

“I’m sure it does, because late-bloomers don’t think of society the same way as us,” Isen said. “As low-tiers they have been oppressed by society, and as high-tiers they use their power to fight back against society and gain vengeance against those who have hurt them. But if that’s the case, why is John acting as a cripple instead of dethroning Arlo as soon as he came to Wellston? He took a year off between being expelled from New Bostin and coming here, what happened during that time? What made him pretend to be a low-tier?” Isen thought out loud.

“Maybe John can answer our questions.” Remi said. “I’m going to talk to him.”

“Wait, WHAT? Remi, are you serious? John won’t listen to you, he’s hell-bent on getting revenge against Arlo!” Isen said.

“I know that. But if we can get through to him maybe we can avoid fighting! Also, Seraphina told John to go easier on me, so he may listen to us and we can agree to a compromise.”

Isen looked at Blyke, who looked as uncertain as he felt. The three walked up to John’s room and Remi knocked on his door. “Hey John, it’s Remi! I need to talk to you!” Blyke and Isen stood slightly behind her, ready to back her up in case of trouble.

They heard a door open and close, then footsteps approaching behind them. They turned around to see John in his workout clothes, looking at the three of them with an raised eyebrow. He doesn’t look surprised that we’re here, Remi thought. Did Seraphina tell him we were coming? 

“What do you guys want?” John asked in a slightly irritated tone.

“We need to talk,” Remi said.

“Listen, I’m not talking to you with them around,” John said, gesturing to Blyke and Isen.

“Don't worry, I just want a private conversation between the two of us,” Remi stated, before turning to Isen. She walked over to him and handed him her phone. “Hold this for me.”

John opened the door to his room, and Remi followed him inside. He threw the towel around his neck into the clothes hamper before sitting on his bed. Remi stood in front of him.

“I’m assuming you want to compromise?”

“Yes, I want to see if we can find another way to solve this situation--”

John snorted. “Is this how all high-tiers act? You only want to talk when there is no chance you will win? Listen, I’m not going to stop. If this is all you wanted to say, then you can leave,” Remi was surprised at how quickly John figured her out and rejected her proposal. He must be determined to get back at Arlo for what he has done to him.

“Seraphina told me about what happened between you and Arlo. It was cruel what he did to you. Ambushing you, forcing you to reveal your ability, trying to drag you back to the hierarchy; that was horrible of him to do.” John looked surprised. He didn’t expect her to sympathize with him. “I know you don’t trust me, but please hear me out. I just want to understand your intentions. I know it’s not just Arlo that drove you to action. Why are you destroying everyone’s trust in all high-tiers?”

“You all abuse your power and step on the backs of lower-tiers in order to stay in power,” he explained. “All of you are arrogant and entitled; you deserve to lose every bit of credibility you have.”

“What do you mean? We’ve always tried to maintain a safe environment for everyone in this school, regardless of ability level! We try to catch as many incidents as we can and set a good example for the rest of the school.” Remi immediately regretted her statement when she saw the anger building in his face.

“ Safe? Set a good example? Remi, high-tiers are the ones who start the fights!” John yelled. “You already know what happened between Arlo and I. Zeke beat my a** when I moved into the dorms. Elaine pretended to be friendly to me until I told her I was a cripple, then she immediately changed her tone and treated me like trash! And those two idiots outside broke my wrist and shot a beam at my head! And for this school being a safe environment, there’s hardly been a day where I haven’t been injured.” John pulled up his shirt, exposing the bruises that marred his stomach. “This is the f**king example you set for everyone! High-rankers are the reason why everyone jumps to torture one another! Because all you do is boast about your strength and belittle the people below you.”

Remi was stunned into silence. Have I been that blind? Have I really been overlooking the problems of low-tiers? She can see the hurt and anger in his eyes. He’s experienced so much pain. No wonder he wants to take the hierarchy down.

“I… I understand.” Remi sighed, leaning against the wall. “I have been so oblivious to the pain and oppression low-tiers suffer through each day. I should have done more from the beginning, maybe then the school environment would be better. My late brother Rei was the former King of this school. He wanted to bring everyone together and promoted equality across all tiers. I wanted to uphold his cause, but it looks like I have failed. I have one question though: why are you hiding your ability? I asked Seraphina and Isen, and they said you were the King at your old high school. That you were cruel and got expelled because of how you treated your classmates. But I know there must be something deeper than that. From what Seraphina told me, you seem almost scared of your ability.”

John looked away, and Remi saw a flash of pain. “It’s… hard to explain,” he said. He didn’t want to tell her about his past, especially not what happened during the three months he had to take readjustment classes.

Sera trusts her, he thought. She said that Remi would understand. Remi also admitted her faults and sympathized with him, which was something he never thought she would do. He decided to tell what happened.

“Well, I wasn’t expelled for destroying half of my graduating class, I was expelled for resisting the authorities. They... sent me to a facility and... they kept replaying the memories of me beating up my classmates. They conditioned me into being scared of my ability and consequently myself.” John put his head in his hands, shuddering as the memories resurfaced. 

Remi was horrified. He went through all of that ? She knew the authorities were untrustworthy, but to mentally torture a child? That is beyond despicable. She then noticed John looked like he was about to have a breakdown.

“John, breathe.” Remi said, trying to calm him down. She put her hands on his shoulders, but immediately removed them when he moved away from her touch. He must not like being touched without permission. I can’t blame him, with all he has gone through he must have some kind of PTSD. “You’re not at that place, you’re okay. It’s just you and me.”

After John managed to recollect himself, Remi continued. “I understand it’s hard to talk about your past. I feel honored for you to trust me enough to tell me. I don’t blame you for not trusting high-tiers, especially with what you’ve gone through.” Her fists clenched. “The authorities had no right to do that to you. I’m sorry about what happened to you, I really am.” John didn’t reply, not knowing what to say.

They were silent for a few seconds before John spoke up again. “So… about the Joker thing…”

“Oh, right.” Remi knew an abrupt topic change when she heard it. She wanted to talk to John more about his past, but she didn’t want to pry too much. “About the abuse, I’ll gather up everyone I can and we’ll try to fix this problem. I’ll talk to every high-tier and get them to help low-tiers--”

John laughed humorlessly. “High-tiers aren’t going to change because you’ve talked to them. That’s not how the world works. Didn’t Arlo work closely with Rei? If so, why hasn’t he upholded your brother’s system? You literally have to beat change into people, Remi.”

Remi wanted to argue otherwise, but she remembered John knows how everything works. She hated to admit it, but maybe Rei’s system didn’t help after all.

She sighed. “Maybe you’re right, but after you become King, we can find a way to end this abuse. When will we fight?”

“In two days,” John replied.

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” Remi walked towards the door.

“Hey Remi,” she turned around to see John looking at her. “I appreciate your honesty and willingness to understand. I’m sorry it has come to this. I’ll try not to hurt you too much, and I’ll heal you after we fight, I promise.”

Remi smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”

Remi opened the door to see Isen and Blyke stumbling, as they had been leaning against the door.

“Really guys?” She heard John say, a hint of humor in his voice.

“We didn’t hear anything!” The two elite-tiers said as John raised an eyebrow.

“You guys are crazy. See you later, Remi. Please don’t tell them about.. you know.”

“I won’t. See you later.”

As the three left, Remi thought over the conversation she had with John. As of today she’ll put more of her time and effort into helping low-tiers.

“So…did you and John come to an agreement? Will he stop being Joker?” Blyke asked Remi, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Sort of. We are still going to fight, but he won’t brutalize me. And after he becomes King, we are going to work together to help low-tiers.” Remi replied. Blyke and Isen looked at each other in uncertainty.

“I guess that’s better than the alternative,” Isen said. “Should we back you up, just in case?”

“No, I’m good. Like I said I’ll be fine. John isn’t a monster, you know.”

Blyke and Isen thought otherwise. They fell back until they were out of earshot from Remi.

“We should back her up. I’ll shoot, you guide me.” Blyke whispered to Isen, who nodded in response.

Remi was about to head to her dorm room when she remembered what Arlo did to John. She decided to confront him at school tomorrow.

I don't care if he's stronger than me, I'm so going to hurt him.

Chapter Text

Remi walked out into the courtyard, scanning the crowd of students for a certain god-tier with a black mask. She then heard concerned shouts and cries of "Joker!" She turned around to see John with his mask on, his eyes glowing.

The students ran away from the two, not wanting to be part of the upcoming fight. "This is going to get messy, go somewhere safe!" Remi directed.

"No hard feelings, right?" John asked Remi after all the students had left the area. She smirked, activating her ability. She was very curious to see what his skillset was. What ability has he copied?

"No hard feelings. Let's do this."

Remi saw John shift before running at her, readying a punch. She quickly dodged the attack and put her hand on his shoulder, electrocuting him. She saw him shift into his defensive form, his arms turning black.

That's definitely Zeke's ability, Remi thought to herself. She managed to jump out of the way of another attack as John quickly shifted back to his offensive form. He stood back up, the punch leaving a crater in the cement. She can see black lightning swarm around him as he rushed towards her again. She barely managed to dodge again, ducking underneath his arm.

Remi was shocked to see an energy beam pierce John's shoulder, sending him flying away from her. Two more pierced his side and thigh. She looked in the direction of the beams to see Blyke and Isen on the roof of a nearby building. You idiots!

"HEY! What are you two doing?" Remi yelled at her friends. "I told you I didn't need your help!" While she was distracted, John stood back up and ran towards her. She only had time to turn around when he punched her in the stomach, sending her flying in the wall.

John stood over her as she tried to regain her breath. Dang he hits hard, she thought. "I'll be right back, I have to deal with them." He said, irritated.

"Don't hurt them too much, please!" She cried. No matter how crazy Blyke and Isen were, she didn't want them to get seriously injured trying to protect her.

"I won't. I'm just going to make sure they don't interfere." John barely managed to dodge another energy beam, and he turned around to face the two elite-tiers. Remi watched as he easily scaled the building, dodging Blyke's energy beams. He threw a kick at Blyke who tried to block it with his arm, however the kick was powerful enough to break his arm and sent him flying. He was then electrocuted and consequently knocked out. Isen threw a punch at John, only to have John catch his arm and shoot a beam through it. He also electrocuted Isen, and the elite-tier crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

John turned back towards Remi and propelled himself at the high-tier, readying a punch. Just before he could make contact, a barrier was thrown up around Remi. John's fist hit the barrier, cracking it, but the reflective damage broke his arm. He fell to the ground, yelling in pain.

Remi turned around in surprise to see Arlo, blood trickling from his lips. What the--? Where did he come from?

"Are you okay?" Arlo said, dropping the barrier.

"I'm fine, you didn't have to jump in. He's not going to pulverize me, you know."

"I don't trust him to not do so," Arlo replied.

Before Remi could reply, John stood up, clutching his broken arm. "Oh don't worry Arlo," he hissed, "you're the one who's going to be pulverized, after I'm finished with Remi."

Although a part of Remi thought Arlo deserved to be beaten, what John had in mind might be too gruesome. 

Uh oh...

Seraphina and Evie had just left the library to head to their next class when two students hurried past them, heading towards the windows overlooking the courtyard.

"Arlo and Remi are fighting Joker! I've heard he has already knocked out Blyke and Isen!"

"No way, I want to see this!"

"I wonder if they will be able to defeat Joker."

"Who knows?"

John, Seraphina thought. I thought he was fighting only Remi. Would he be able to handle both her and Arlo?

"Let's go see the fight," Seraphina suggested to Evie. "I'm really curious to see how this ends." Evie looked scared, but nodded.

The two headed to the windows that overlooked the area where Joker was fighting the Royals. They pushed through the crowd to get a view of the battle.

Sure enough, there was John with his mask on, his eyes glowing an intense gold. Seraphina noticed that his right arm was hanging limply and covered with blood. It must be broken, Seraphina thought. Cuts and bruises covered his body.

Seraphina looked over at Arlo and Remi. Arlo was clutching his chest and blood dripped from his mouth. John must have cracked his barrier. She also saw Remi, who had cuts all over her and was bleeding from her head. Thankfully she didn't look too injured, but Seraphina knew John would have to knock her out, since Remi didn't know when to quit. Seraphina just hoped John wouldn't send her to the hospital.

She watched as John fought Arlo and Remi, studying his every move. She noticed he was using four different abilities: Blyke's energy beam, Remi's lightning, Isen's Hunter ability, and Zeke's Phase Shift.

I have never seen him fight against high-tiers, but he seems to be handling himself well. I wonder why he hasn't used Arlo's barrier. Is he maxed out on how many abilities he can store at a time? Or does he have no use for a barrier?

Seraphina heard students cheering for the Royals while simultaneously booing Joker. She really wanted to cheer for him, but she held her tongue.

"Seraphina!" The former Ace turned to Holden, who had called her name. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." She coolly replied.

"I was walking with Arlo and when we saw Remi fighting Joker he immediately jumped out of the window to help her!" Holden suddenly looked thoughtful. "I may be wrong, but I have a feeling Arlo knows who Joker is, but he hasn't told us."

Before Seraphina could say anything, she saw John being enclosed in Arlo's barrier. Remi then electrocuted John with her lightning. Unable to dodge the electricity, he fell to his knees. She could hear his cry of pain.

For a brief moment Seraphina cursed her ability loss. She knew Remi wasn't going to seriously injure him, but she couldn't help but be concerned for his safety.

All of a sudden she saw John charging up an electrified energy beam with his functioning hand. He's able to stay focused enough to charge up an energy beam? Either his defense must be very high, or he probably has an ungodly amount of pain tolerance.

Arlo dropped his barrier and John released the black and gold energy beam at Remi, charging a smaller beam as he raced towards her. Arlo put his barrier around Remi to protect her from the incoming blast, but the barrier shattered as the beam broke through. Remi dodged the majority of the large beam, but her side was grazed and the smaller beam went through her leg. John jumped up, grabbed the Queen by her legs and swung her face-first into the ground, knocking her out cold.

"REMI!" Arlo yelled.

"Remi is unconscious!" Evie exclaimed in shock. "It's just Joker and Arlo."

Enraged, Arlo tackled John to the ground, ready to punch the disguised god-tier. John grabbed his arm and electricity coursed through Arlo. Seraphina could see John charging a beam in his other hand. The energy beam hit Arlo's side and sent him flying. Two more pierced his thighs before John kneed him in the face, grabbed it, and slammed his head into the ground, leaving Arlo too disoriented to get back up.

It was over. The Royals were all defeated. Joker looked up at the students watching through the windows before pulling off his mask, revealing to the whole school that the person who took down all of the Royals was John. The students gasped in surprise.

"Wait, what? John is Joker?"

"I thought John was a cripple!"

"Holy sh*t, John has been a god-tier all along!"

The students whispered amongst themselves in fear and shock.

"John is the new King..."

"He beat Arlo and Remi with one arm! That is insane!"

"I don't feel safe with him being King, he's so brutal."

"He might even come after us for bullying him!"

Evie and Holden turned to Seraphina in shock. "Did you know John had an ability?" Evie asked, noting the former Ace's calm expression.

"Yeah, I did," Seraphina responded. "I would have told you earlier, Evie, but John wanted to keep his ability a secret until he dethroned Arlo. As a matter of fact, every high-tier and a lot of elite-tiers already knew about Joker's actual identity. The reason why no one said anything is either because John told them not to or they themselves decided not to tell anyone," she explained.

"WHAT?" Evie and Holden exclaimed. The students around them who heard the conversation started asking questions.

"The Royals kept this from us the entire time?" Evie asked, confused.

"How long had they known this for?" Holden questioned, upset Arlo never told him about John's actual identity. "I could've gotten myself killed from how many times I've been rude to him!"

Seraphina was bombarded with questions as the students tried to make sense of the situation. To escape the interrogation, she quickly excused herself. "I'm going to help the Royals and John to the infirmary." As she hastily walked away from the windows, she called Elaine, asking for her help.

As Seraphina made her way to the courtyard, she saw John grabbing Blyke from the roof and rushing away with him. Were Blyke and Isen assisting Remi? What were they doing up there? She surveyed the carnage. Craters and scorch marks littered the area. Streaks of blood stained the asphalt. She saw Arlo struggling to stand up. The blonde winced as she helped him lean against a wall.

"I thought you weren't lending a hand." He said, grunting in pain.

Seraphina shrugged. "Do you need me to help you walk to the infirmary?"

"No, I'm good. I'll get there myself," Arlo said as he limped away. Okay then.

Seraphina saw John return to the roof, pick up Isen, and run off.

"Remi!" Elaine ran over to the fallen Queen. She started to heal Remi's wounds, looking over the various injuries.

"Sera? What are you doing here? I thought you were in class."

Seraphina turned around to see John looking at her. "I was heading to class when I heard you were fighting Arlo and Remi in the courtyard," She explained. "You should go to the infirmary too, you look horrible."

"I'm actually almost healed. Where did Arlo go?" John asked, looking around.

"He decided to walk to the infirmary by himself." John shrugged and headed over to Elaine and Remi.

"I'm going to take Remi to the infirmary. I'll help you heal them." John told Elaine as he picked up the unconscious Queen.

"O-Okay," Elaine replied nervously.

John rushed away, and Elaine and Seraphina made their way to the infirmary. "Did John just defeat the Royals?" Elaine asked Seraphina, visibly shaken.

"Yeah, he did."

"I-I'm scared that he might go after m-me for what I did to h-him." Elaine said, shivering in fear.

"Elaine, if John wanted to get revenge he would have done it already. He also even offered to help you heal everyone so you wouldn't have to exhaust yourself. Don't worry about him attacking you."

Elaine relaxed a little as she thought over what Seraphina said. She nodded, but didn't say anything else.

As the girls walked into the infirmary, they saw Doctor Darren glaring at John with his Nightmare ability. "You better explain what you did, John."

John shrugged, unaffected. "Sorry Doc, I was taking my 'rightful place.'"

As Elaine and John healed the fallen Trio, Seraphina handed Arlo a tissue. He accepted it wordlessly, coughing into it. "Well, how does it feel to be demoted to Jack?" Seraphina asked, a hint of humor in her voice.

Arlo gave her a withering glare, and Seraphina only smirked in response. "Of course you would mock me."

"I'm not mocking you, I'm just asking you a question. I'm assuming it feels pretty bad, especially considering you wouldn't have been dethroned if you had just left John alone." The aforementioned raven-haired man snorted. Arlo didn't respond.

After healing Remi, John turned to Arlo. "I'm going to heal your injuries, okay?"

"I'm fine, I just took a tonic. I don't need you to heal me," Arlo said, exasperated.

John rolled his eyes, while Seraphina stifled a laugh. "Someone's salty," he muttered under his breath. He healed Arlo anyways, much to the blonde's displeasure.

"I told you I don't need your help," Arlo said before coughing up more blood. Seraphina handed him another tissue.

"First off, I'm trying to be nice. Secondly, you look like sh*t. Lastly, Doc is already pissed off. I'm pretty sure he'll murder us if he has to stay after school to make sure you heal."

"I wonder why," Arlo muttered.

"Just shut up and let me heal you. You can be angry at me later."

Remi woke up to see Isen and Blyke laying in the infirmary beds, still unconscious. Elaine and Seraphina were standing to her left while Arlo was sitting in a chair to her right, looking quite irritated as John healed his wounds.

"What happened?" Remi asked. Everyone turned towards her, surprised she was already awake.

John paused in healing Arlo and turned towards Remi with a somewhat sheepish smile. "Welcome back," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been drop-kicked off a building," Remi joked as she sat up. "I'm fine, there is a little pain but otherwise I'm good." She looked over at Isen and Blyke. "How are they doing?"

"They'll be fine, John and I healed you all," Elaine explained. She then turned to John, who finished healing Arlo. "Thank you for helping me, by the way."

John smiled a little. "No problem." He then looked at Arlo. "You know, you could say 'thank you.' I mean I just healed your sorry a** and saved you from Doc." He snarked. Arlo rolled his eyes while Seraphina, Remi, and Elaine giggled. Blyke and Isen soon awoke, looking around.

"Hey guys, how are you feeling?" Remi asked the two as they sat up in their beds.

"Could be worse." Isen stated, carefully moving the arm John shot a beam through.

"It's a little painful, but otherwise I'm fine," Blyke turned to Elaine. "Thanks for healing us."

"Don't just thank me, John helped heal you all. In fact, he did most of the healing," Elaine stated.

Blyke and Isen were surprised. "Oh really? Uh... thanks John, I didn't think you would heal us." Blyke said apprehensively.

John rolled his eyes again. "I'm not that cruel, Blyke. I healed you when I fought you the first time. Also, Elaine can only do so much healing and I'd rather keep you from Doc's wrath," he looked at the aforementioned school nurse, who was currently staring at something on his phone. Suddenly his nose started bleeding, which confused everyone.

"Uh Doc? Are you okay?" Remi asked.

Darren looked up to see everyone staring at him. "What are you all staring at? Mind your own business!" He barked. "John, if they are not out of this room by the time school ends, I will end you."

John fought back a laugh, not intimidated by Doc's threat. "Don't worry Doc, Elaine and I finished healing them."

"Good, now get out of here."

Students ran from John as he and Seraphina walked through the school halls, terrified of becoming Joker's next target. They could hear students whispering about him. Seraphina looked up at John to see him very uncomfortable with the attention.

She gently elbowed his side. "Hey, don't worry about them. Their words don't mean anything to you. Look at it this way; you won't be bullied anymore and I'm sure people will avoid targeting me as well."

John exhaled softly, nodding his head. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just don't want everyone seeing me as a monster."

"You're not a monster, John. They may think you are, but you aren't a monster. Don't pay any attention to them, okay?"

"Okay." John wrapped an arm around Seraphina's shoulders, smiling at her. "You're the greatest, Sera."

Hoping she wasn't blushing from the unexpected touch, she cheekily replied, "Of course I am."

Chapter Text

The next day at school was uncomfortable. As John walked through the hallways everyone scrambled out of his way. He hated that everyone was scared of him, as it reminded him of when he was the King of his previous school. Students would avoid him and gossip about him, insulting him when they think he couldn't hear them.

"Look, there's John! He defeated all of the Royals!"

"He's so brutal! He sent Juni and Zeke to the hospital!"

"He's beaten up so many people!"

"Shh! He'll hear us!"

Don't pay them any attention, he thought to himself, repeating Seraphina's words. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Their words mean nothing to you.

"Hey, cripple!" John turned around to see two mid-tiers leering at him. The students around them gasped at their brashness.

"Did Mardin just call John a cripple? Did he not hear the news or see the battle? I thought everyone knew John is Joker!"

"Are Brea and Mardin challenging John? They'll get obliterated!"

John fixed them with a bored look. Are they really stupid enough to challenge me?  "Just don't. Unless you two live under a rock I'm sure you've heard that I'm not a cripple."

"Oh yeah? Then prove it!" Mardin activated his ability and rushed towards John. The "cripple" activated his own ability, parried his punch and sent the mid-tier flying into the wall with his own punch to the kid's gut. Mardin slouched over, wheezing from the hit.

John turned to Brea, who was shivering in fear. "Do you also want to try me?" The girl ran away, almost running into several students who were watching the whole ordeal. He turned back to Mardin, who looked like he was about to pass out from fear. Pathetic.

"Don't ever try to challenge me again." He walked away from the stunned crowd of students. A part of him wanted to beat the mid-tier into unconsciousness, however he was determined to prove himself better than the violent and cruel King he was in New Bostin.

Seraphina was walking to her next class when she heard someone call her name. She turned around to see Evie and Roland approaching her.

"Can we ask you a few questions about John?" Evie asked Seraphina.

"Sure. Let's go on the roof." she replied.

As they walked to the roof, Seraphina noticed two students walking in their direction. As soon as they noticed the former Ace they hurried away. They're too scared of John to even approach me. At least I won't have to worry about being beaten up.

As soon as the three low-tiers reached the roof, Evie and Roland bombarded Seraphina with a bunch of questions, trying to understand what happened.

"Wait, hold on, I can't answer all of your questions at once," Seraphina said.

"Oh, sorry about that," Evie apologized. "We're just really confused. Why did John hide his ability?"

"His reasons are very personal," Seraphina replied. "John has had a rough past and it led to him pretending to be a cripple."

"Then why did he reveal his ability if he's so against it?" Roland asked, confused.

"Partly because I lost my ability, and because Arlo forced him to."

"Arlo? What did he do?"

"While I was suspended, he got John to befriend him. After gaining his trust Arlo ambushed him with two elite-tiers in order to force him to use his ability." Seraphina responded.

Evie gasped in shock. "He actually did that? That's so cruel!"

"Yeah. I'm sure Arlo wouldn't ever pull that again after being defeated and humiliated twice."

"Twice?" Roland asked, surprised. "John defeated Arlo twice?"

"Yeah, the first time happened outside of school, which is why almost no one else knew about the incident. John let Arlo keep his throne as long as he left John alone. But Arlo kept trying to pull him back. I guess you can say Arlo succeeded, but at the cost of his position as King and his reputation," Seraphina replied, snorting at the irony. "Also, if you're worried about him hurting you or other low-tiers, don't be. You guys are both my friends and John's friends, if anything he'll be protecting you. That's why he's teaching you guys how to fight. As a matter of fact, he's planning on helping all low-tiers."

"Really? That's great of him to do for us," Roland grinned, envisioning how peaceful their lives would be, not having to worry about getting jumped or forced into doing assignments for higher-tiers. "It's rare for high-tiers to pay attention to us. It feels good to be noticed by someone."

"Agreed, but can we just talk about his ability for a sec? He can copy other people's abilities and combine them!" Evie gushed. Besides the initial fear she experienced when she saw John using his ability, she was in awe at how much power John had.

"He also amplifies the highest stat of his copied abilities," Seraphina added.

"Okay, that is overpowered as heck!" Roland remarked in amazement. "If you still had your ability, could he copy your ability?"

"I've only seen him use my ability once," Seraphina admitted, "but because my ability level was at a higher level than his, he was unable to amplify it. He could still copy it, but at a weaker strength than my ability."

"Wait, you would still be higher than him if you had your ability? I thought for sure he would have an ability level of over nine! What is his ability level?" Evie asked.

"It's been a while since my ability level has been gauged, but I would say it's around mid-sevens." The three turned to see John approaching them with a half-smile.

"Oh! John! I-I didn't know you were here!" Evie stammered slightly in surprise as John sat down next to them.

"I just got here," he replied, shrugging. "I'm guessing you were asking Sera about me, right?" Evie and Roland nodded. "Well, for you guys my intentions are pure, don't worry. I'm still your friend, and I'll help you guys out in case anyone messes with you."

"Really? Thank you!" Evie gushed, hugging the god-tier. John reciprocated and mouthed "I'm adopting her" to Seraphina, who laughed.

"Thank you so much, John," Roland said, smiling. "We really appreciate your help."

"No problem," John replied. He then stood back up, taking off his jacket and vest and rolling up his sleeves. "Since we are already up here, why don't we practice some more fighting techniques?" He offered. Evie and Roland grinned at each other.

He's a good person, they both thought as they took off their jackets.

John was cooking dinner when he heard the door to the dorm room open. Blyke quickly looked away from John, who raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"It's... nothing. I'm just getting some stuff. I'm moving in with Isen."

"Why?" John asked, confused. "I'm not going to kick you out of our dorm. If you're worried about me attacking you in your sleep or something, if I actually hated you I would have done it already."

Blyke looked surprised. "What?"

"You heard me. Listen, the reason why I was so hostile to you is because after Arlo betrayed me I had trouble trusting high-tiers like you. Also in the beginning you were also rude towards me and then all of a sudden you wanted to become friends. I figured you had ulterior motives," John explained.

"Uh, yeah, about that..." Blyke rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry for almost shooting you in the head. It wasn't right for you to slap Remi's hand away, but it wasn't right of me to do that to you. Also, I didn't have any ulterior motives. I realized how mean I was to you and I wanted to make amends. But I understand how you wouldn't have trusted me with what happened between you and Arlo."

The two stood in silence before John spoke up. "Would you like some dinner? I'm making steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli."

"Sure," Blyke replied. He grabbed a plate of food and sat down at the dinner table. Taking a bite of the steak, he hummed in satisfaction as the flavor blessed his taste buds.

"This is good!" Blyke exclaimed. "Where did you learn to cook this well?"

John shrugged as he sat down across from Blyke. "Dad taught me. He didn't want me to eat ramen noodles every night so he taught me some dishes."

"Give your father my respects," Blyke said around a mouthful of food. "If you don't mind me asking, is your father a high-tier?"

"Nope, he's an actual cripple."

"Then is your mother a high-tier?"

"I guess so. I don't really know what her ability level is."

"Did she not tell you?"

"No, I haven't seen her since I was around five. Dad doesn't really talk about her," John said, a wistful expression on his face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Blyke apologized, knowing he was treading on a sensitive subject.

"You're fine, you didn't know," John replied.

As the two continued eating their dinner, they discussed various topics. Blyke had to admit, John was a good guy once he got to know the god-tier. He thought back on his fights with John. He seems to know a lot about strategizing and also knows how to fight with and without his ability. If John is able to amplify my ability and use it so skillfully, could he possibly teach me how to master it? 

"Hey John, could you help me with something?"

"What is it?" John looked up from his plate.

"Can you help me with mastering my ability? Compared to you, Arlo, and Remi, I'm too weak."

"Like I've said before, you're not weak. You just haven't reached your full potential," John explained. "I can help you practice. But in return, could you help me with homework? I've heard you're pretty smart and I don't want to keep bothering Sera for help," John sheepishly asked.

Blyke snickered, relieved that John accepted. "Sure. What do you need help on?"

John snorted. "Everything."

Laughing, Blyke went to help John with his homework. He texted Isen to let him know he was staying at his own dorm room.

"I like how you're very intelligent in terms of battle strategies and fighting methods, but with academics you're a mess," The redhead joked as John struggled with a math question.

"Well, not everyone is as smart as you, Mr. 'I get Straight A's on the Daily,'" John snarked. The two continued to playfully bicker with each other as John finished his homework.

"Hey John, can we practice tomorrow afternoon?" Blyke asked after John put away his completed homework.

"Sure, that's fine." John replied. "Thanks again for helping me with the homework."

"No problem!" Blyke then yawned. "Well, I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

As Blyke headed to his room, he felt relieved. He still has his dorm room, and John is giving him a chance at friendship. Hopefully we can become good friends soon.

Chapter Text

John and Seraphina were hanging out in the living room of his dorm. Blyke was hanging out with Isen and Remi, leaving the two alone. They were seated on the couch, their legs entwined underneath a blanket. John was reading a book while Seraphina was playing a game on her phone.

Seraphina had gotten pretty far into her game when John suddenly bolted up with a gasp. She immediately put away her phone and looked at the raven-haired man in concern. "What is it?"

"I think I figured out a way to get your powers back," John replied. Seraphina's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Huh? How will you be able to do that?"

"I was thinking if I can manipulate my own aura, could I also manipulate other people's auras? As you know, I can still sense your aura whenever you try to activate your ability. It's suppressed, but it's not completely gone. What if I can add energy to your aura to overcome the disabler?" John sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, it doesn’t really make sense — "

"Hey, that could work," Seraphina replied thoughtfully. "We should try it out. You already know about my ability."

"Yes, but I can't use it myself, you would need to be able to activate your ability in order for me to use it."

"Yeah, but could you use what you already know about my ability and my existing aura to overcome the dampener?"

"That might just work." John smiled, then froze for a second. "Wait a minute, I don't know if this process will be harmless. Should we ask Elaine for help? Just in case you get hurt I think it will be best for a healer to be present."

"I agree. Let's go ask her."

John and Seraphina discussed the plan as they walked towards the girls' dormitory. Unlocking the door, Seraphina walked into her dorm room with John right behind her. Elaine walked out of her bedroom to greet the two. "Hey guys! What's going on?"

“I’m going to try to bring back Sera’s ability. I may be able to manipulate her aura to override the drug,” John explained.

“That sounds like a great idea, it would make sense you would be able to manipulate other people’s auras instead of just your own,” Elaine replied.

“In case something happens to me or John, can you heal us?” Seraphina asked the healer.

“Sure!” Elaine said excitedly.

At John’s request, Seraphina laid on her bed, with him sitting in a chair next to the bed and Elaine standing off to the side. John activated his ability, his eyes glowing gold. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Seraphina took a deep breath in order to relax. Placing his hands on her stomach, John focused on providing energy to her through her suppressed aura. After a few minutes, she noticed it felt as if someone had injected her with pure adrenaline. Her heart pounded and sweat ran down her forehead. Soon enough, John stopped and deactivated his ability. 

"Okay, I think that's enough," he said, moving back.

"How do you feel?" Elaine asked Seraphina.

"I feel as though I can run for miles without stopping," The magenta-haired girl responded, wiping the sweat off of her forehead with a trembling hand.

"I think the energy John supplied you with needs to run its course. That is why you feel very stimulated." Elaine explained. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to get some water for you two,” she said as she left the room.

“I think we should wait until you calm down before you test your ability,” John recommended to Seraphina, who nodded in agreement. Elaine returned with two glasses of water and handed it to the two, who downed them quickly. Seraphina waited for her heart rate to slow and her hands to stop trembling before she tried to access her powers. After she felt calm enough, she willed herself to activate her ability.  She watched in surprise as Elaine and John turned grey as she froze them. Unfreezing them, she saw matching looks of elation on their faces.

"My ability is back. I CAN USE MY ABILITY!" Seraphina exclaimed, tackle-hugging John. He caught her easily and embraced her tightly, relieved that their plan worked.

“YES! It worked!” Elaine yelled, clapping excitedly.

All of a sudden, Seraphina pulled back and kissed John on the cheek. When she realized what she had done, she turned a bright red. John was also blushing furiously, touching his cheek in shock. They both could hear Elaine giggling.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Seraphina began, before John pecked her on the cheek. If she wasn’t beet red before, she definitely was now.

“I might as well return the favor,” John said, shrugging nonchalantly although his cheeks were still flaming. 

They both turned around to see Elaine with a devious smirk on her face.

"Don't even think about it," Seraphina threatened the healer, knowing she was about to tease her.

"We should check to see if I have fully restored your ability," John suggested. “Do you want to fight?”

“Sure,” Seraphina said, smirking. “I’m so going to win.”

~~~~~O~~~~~

Elaine watched as the two god-tiers “fought” each other in the school courtyard. It’s great to see Seraphina using her ability again, she thought.

"Is that Seraphina?! Using her ability?!" Elaine turned around to see Blyke, Isen, and Remi approaching her with matching looks of surprise on their faces as they watched Seraphina rewind a bruise from one of John’s hits.

"Yep!" Elaine chirped.

"Hell yeah, the Ace is back!" Blyke exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. Isen took out his phone to snap some pictures of Seraphina using her ability. 

"This is going to be such a great news story!" Isen said, grinning.

"How did she regain her ability?" Remi asked.

"John found out a new feature of his ability. He supplied enough energy for Seraphina's aura to override the drug in her system, allowing her to regain her ability." Elaine explained.

"Okay, that is cool!" Isen remarked. "He used his ability to bring back hers! That's really smart!"

"Then why are they fighting?" Blyke asked as John froze Seraphina, who unfroze herself and dodged his attack.

"They are making sure she has fully recovered her ability. From what John told me, he once copied her ability before she was attacked. His copy of her ability was slightly weaker than Sera’s ability, because his base level is lower than hers. If her ability is completely recovered she will be able to beat him.”

"So John can't amplify every ability he comes across?" Remi asked curiously. "I guess he can only amplify abilities at a lower base level than his."

"It seems so," Isen said, reviewing over the pictures he took, looking for the best one to put in the newspaper. He looked up in time to see Seraphina tackle John to the ground. She pinned him down, grinning victoriously.

“Oooooh, are they going to kiss?!” Elaine exclaimed, noticing their faces getting closer to each other.

Blyke and Isen cupped their hands around their mouths and yelled, “GET A ROOM, YOU TWO!" Startled, John and Seraphina looked up to see the two boys snickering while Elaine and Remi giggled.

“ISEN I SWEAR IF YOU TOOK A PICTURE OF THAT YOU’RE GOING TO DIE,” John threatened, standing up after Seraphina released him. Isen threw his hands up.

“I didn’t, I promise! I value my life! However, I did get pictures of you two fighting. This is going to be such a killer story!” Isen enthused, already envisioning the article being number one in the newspaper. Cecile’s going to be so shook, he thought.

“I’m so happy your ability is back!” Remi said, grabbing Seraphina’s hands, squeezing them in excitement. “You’re no longer a cripple!”

“I'm glad for that,” John sighed in relief. “You won’t be bullied anymore.”

“We should celebrate! Seraphina, where do you want to eat?” Remi asked the Ace, who shrugged.

“We can go to Woaba Boba,” She suggested.

“Woaba Boba it is! Let’s go!” As the six walked off, Elaine turned around to notice John and Seraphina fall back from the group.

Seraphina wrapped an arm around John’s waist, hugging him. “Thank you for restoring my ability. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”

John smiled brightly, squeezing her shoulder. “It’s the least I could do to thank you for supporting me.”

Elaine grinned. They are so cute together. Sending off a quick text to Arlo, the blue-haired girl laughed as Remi unsuccessfully tried to break up Blyke and Isen, who were arguing about a new movie.